Conan: The Hyborian Age vs Pathfinder
Compare Conan: The Hyborian Age and Pathfinder side by side. See differences in complexity, dice, genre, cost, and more.
| Conan: The Hyborian Age | Pathfinder | |
|---|---|---|
| Genre | Fantasy | Fantasy |
| Tags | Classless, Combat-Heavy, Cinematic, Licensed IP, Low-Prep, Resource Management, Skill-Based, Strong GM Support, Sword & Sorcery, Tactical | Tactical, Crunchy, Character Building, High-Fantasy, Dungeon Crawl, Lore-Heavy |
| Core Mechanic | Roll the relevant Stat die (d6 initially for heroes) and add its Stat value and modifiers. A total that meets or exceeds the difficulty succeeds. A Stat die result of 1 fails unless Stamina or a Flex result rescues it. Player characters also roll a separate Flex die on most rolls. Its maximum result grants a choice of boons such as rescuing a failed roll. | Roll d20 + modifier against a DC. Four degrees of success: critical success (beat DC by 10+), success, failure, and critical failure (miss by 10+). Each turn grants three actions to spend freely on strikes, movement, spellcasting, or other activities. Multi-attack penalty (-5/-10) discourages repeated strikes and encourages tactical variety. |
| Dice | d4–d12 | d20 |
| Complexity | Medium | High |
| Accessibility | High | Very High |
| Runnability | Very High | Very High |
| License | All Rights Reserved | ORC |
| Third-Party Publishing | No verified route found | Commercial publishing allowed — Open and compatibility licenses |
| Summary only, not legal advice. Check current terms before publishing. | ||
| Cost | $$ | Free |
| Publisher | Monolith Board Games SARL | Paizo |
| Year | 2025 | 2023 |
| Languages | English, French | English, French, German, Italian, Spanish, Portuguese |
| Best For | Groups who want heroic Conan adventures built around tactical battles and treasure hunting in ancient ruins. | Groups who want deep character customization, tactical grid combat with meaningful turn-by-turn decisions, and a richly detailed fantasy setting with free rules. |
| Highlights | A maximum Flex result gives players a choice of immediate benefits. Stamina lets heroes boost a roll after seeing its result. Minions die after a decisive blow or two damaging hits, reducing enemy bookkeeping. | The three-action economy gives every turn the same three actions to spend on strikes, movement, or spells, so each turn is a fresh tactical decision. Characters customize through ancestry, class, skill, and general feats gained at nearly every level, letting builds diverge sharply within a single class. Four degrees of success, set by beating or missing the DC by 10, turn each roll into a range of outcomes rather than a binary result. |
| Considerations | Sorcery disciplines are restricted by character Origin. Casting spells can consume the same Life Points that keep a character alive. Wealth is abstract rather than governed by equipment prices. | New players must learn the trait system, conditions, and four degrees of success before combat runs smoothly. Multi-attack penalty and numerous combat actions can slow turns for indecisive players. Character creation draws feats from ancestry, class, skill, and general pools at every level, making each build a slow step. |